When Corellians Meet
Argon is glad to be back on Ord. For once he is off-base and enjoying a quiet few moments in the Cat's Claw, a drink in one hand and some snacks in the other. He wears his duty uniform, as he seldom wears civilian clothing. While it is quiet, he is looking around as he sits at the bar, observing the people around him. Chana is, for want of a better word, sullen today. It'd be shameful, were she still the padawan she once was, but of anything has become clear from her travels of late, it's that she's not that person anymore. That there is no hope of ever being that person anymore. And so here she is, on New Alderaan, and the Jedi academy can't seem to get her in to be released from her vows. Busy? Maybe. Probably. Chana finds a place to sit at the bar, throws her eye shield down with somewhat more force than necessary. "Corellian Whiskey. Nothing younger than two weeks old." Drinking on a budget. Bleah. Argon looks over, "Rough day, eh?" He takes a drink, it's non-alcoholic as he is in uniform and off-base, but still, "Sorry it seems so." The short officer takes a bite out of the bar he's holding, "Could be worse, at least the drinks are good here." Chana stars at Argon a moment, then blinks a few times, and takes a breath. She smiles a little weakly as her drink arrives. "Yeah. Trying to bring part of my life to a close so I can move on..." She sips the whiskey. "Mm. Not bad, like you said. Some of the swill coming out of Corellia these days isn't worth cleaning blaster barrels with." She looks the short man over. "You're in uniform for something?" "I can get that," Argon says and raises a brow at the Corellian comment, "Corellia makes the finest of whiskeys!" He grins and shrugs, "Just got off duty." The Corellian finishes his bar and extends a hand, "Argon Brand." Chana shifts her drink to her off hand and shakes Argon's hand with her right, smiling a little as the other Correllian rises to her barb. "Which is why good Corellians like you and I drink it, right?" She lets her own Corellian accent peek through. There's not a lot left of it. She's been away a long time. But it's there. "Chanara Thorn. Which ship are you with?" "Exactly, the rest don't know any better," Argon grins and relaxes his posture a little, "I'm the commanding officer of the Lightbringer, a lovely Corellian Gunship. I am proud of her and her crew. What is it that you do?" His tone is a bit more jovial at this point, getting to talk about his ship and Corellia with a fellow native. Chana looks at the bar and traces a finger on it. "I'm just a fighter jock. Theoretically I work for Johanna teDanaan. Price of Pleasure. Which is to say I've been away for two years, and just landed on the hangar deck this afternoon. They let me leave again, so either the boss isn't too mad at me or she hasn't heard I'm back yet. Lightbringer, huh? Is she a fast ship?" "Solid, good work if you can get it, even if you're StarOps!" Argon laughs and nods as his ship is brought up, "Indeed, though would it truly be a Corellian ship if she was slow? I personally love CorGuns, but they are good at what they do." Chana laughs a little. "Yeah... if you have an unlimited stomach for war." Her face lightens considerably as he talks about the ship. Ships she can get behind. "Well..." She chuckles. "No, I suppose not. Lots of stuff seems slow compared to fighters though. 'Least until you get into hyperspace." Chana leans back and sips her drink. "Sometimes I think I should get a bigger ship, go into business for myself. But I dunno. I don't have much business savvy. I've been a soldier and a pilot my whole life." "What sort of ship are you flying? Hopefully one worth being being the controls for," Argon says and takes a drink, "And a corgun goes about 7/8 of an x-wing's speed, so it is no slouch in sublight." He frowns for a moment, "Though I admit I do not have a stomach for endless war, I simply serve because someone has to. What did you fly when you served?" You say, "Z95A these days. Fast, light, maneuverable. I love it to bits. Back in the day I flew Z95s, N1s, ARC-170 once or twice, ETA-2s... a few others." She sips her whiskey. "Long time ago. I got stuck in carbon freeze for a few decades." She looks the other Corellian over. "What about you? How'd you wind up with your own ship?"" Argon listens and blinks as some of those relative antiques are rattled off, "Wow, haven't been in any of those before, though perhaps someday I'll try one out." He nods at the mentin of carbon freeze, things added up, now. "Worked my way up the ranks. Got promoted to commander after Bothawui, though for that campaign I mainly commanded an MC40 and an Assault Frigate, enough to capture a Victory 2 and shot down the Grand Admiral, hence why I currently hold the record for highest bounty in the wardroom at the moment." Chana laughs. "Congratulations. You're so sure I'm not a bounty hunter that you tell me this? Or if I were a bounty hunter, would I already know?" She tosses back the rest of her whiskey. "You sound like you've had plenty of war yourself. But a Victory II? I remember the Victory Is, and I heard about the IIs, but never saw one. Are you older than you look too, or was this after the Empire took over?" "Eh, if I'm caught, I'm caught. If a bounty hunter has the gall to try that here brazenly, they probably deserve it," Argon notes, "Eh, V2s are kind of the sideships, now. The Imperial Star Destroyers are the go-tos for the fleet, it seems. And I am not that old, just turned 31 not too long ago." Chana laughs again. "I don't think I've sunk so low as that yet. And yeah... Saw one of those fairly recently. On long range sensors. It was just dumping garbage and recharging its hyperdrive. We were worried we were going to be armpit deep in TIE fighters, but I guess our little war didn't catch their interest. Argon hears the mention of an ISD, "Where did you see it? Hopefully not too close to Republic space?" His voice betrays a little concern, "I have never liked fighting them, bristled to the teeth with big guns. Fortunately they can be dodged at range fairly reliably." Chana blows out her cheeks. "No, not close to Republic space." She gestures to the bartender. "I take it you've chosen a side in that whole conflict?" Argon nods and looks down at his uniform, "Republic FleetOps, it's my job to take down Imperial ships and to protect New Republic citizens and interests." He finishes his drink, "And I do not regret it." Chana nods. "Ahh. ok. FleetOps is //New Republic// Fleetops." Her shoulders draw up tightly and she takes a breath, forcing them back down. "I dunno. On the one hand, the New Republic is kind of the inheritor to the Old Republic, and reasonably, I should be on that side. On the other hand, the Empire emerged from the Old Republic. They maintained the rule of law from the Old Republic... I dunno. I owed allegience to the Old Republic. And it's dead. So right now I work for Johanna, and I owe my loyalty to her. She's an independent. So... yeah." She shrugs again. "Coming to grips with a lot of that stuff, learning the history that happened while I was out of it. That's been my life these last couple years. Argon listens and nods. He takes a moment to craft what is to say, "I would say the Empire lost its legitimacy when Palpatine overstepped his authority. His powers were to only be temporary and for the purpose of the crisis of the Secessionists, who were long gone by the time the Rebellion kicked off. Had he returned power to the Senate we would not be in the quagmire we are currently in." Chana nods. "Yeah well. That's how power is, isn't it? Once you've had a taste, it's hard to go back." She looks at the bartender. "Get this guy another one of whatever he's drinking. On me." She looks back at Argon. "Yeah. You're probably right. I saw him once. Palpatine. I um. Spent time on Coruscant when I was little. And as for quagmires... the Old Republic //was// a quagmire, even before the Seperatists popped up. I wonder sometimes if massing that much power to any group of people is really a good idea." "Harder to corrupt a large group of people than it is a singular entity," Argon says and takes the soft drink from the bartender, "I remember the slogans and such on Corellia when COMPNOR was there. I much prefer the New Republic over the Empire. And Corellia fared better than most planets, imagine those that are not populated mostly by humans, like Kashyyyk or Bothawui" Chana nods. "Yeah. I mean I know you're right... I just... loyalty is a big thing for me. And... I took an oath at one point. To the Old Republic. I've been thrown away... multiple times now... but loyalty, you know? It's all I have." "No, that I do understand," Argon nods, "You are in a bit of a legal mess. Both would likely honor your oath, though I wager the New Republic would find a use for your skills. You'll find we still run a few of the old ships. I do understand keeping your word, sometimes it's the only thing you have and that only you can take away from yourself." You say, "The Empire'd kill me on sight just to be sure. That's no question." She wraps both arms around herself. "Even though the reason behind that is long, long gone."" "Eh, they hold grudges," Argon nods, "I'd hate to be on the other end of a fight from you, but I would wager you would be welcome back in the New Republic forces if youwanted in. Always could use good pilots." Chana curls a smile, just a little one. "I'll give it some thought, if Johanna goes ahead and fires me. Assuming I survive it. She's one you don't cross lightly. So do you have family back in the Corellian system? Wife, kids, parents, all that?" "Just parents, my father is in CorSec and my mother is a docotr," Argon nods, "Not exactly exciting, but it's my family and I love them dearly, though I will admit my mother's side can be a bit expansive." Chana nods. "My family's mostly gone. My brother's still alive, although he's a grandfather and a great grandfather now. I visited Corellia. Met up with him, but... we were separated when I was only two or three. He barely remembered who I was." "If you don't mind me asking, when were you frozen?" Argon asks and frowns, "I am sorry to hear that, though. Hopefully things can improve between you two." You say, "When I was 19. The Old Republic was still in power, Palpatine hadn't taken over yet... Knowing what history I know now... toward the end of the Clone Wars, although we didn't know it at the time. I woke up four years ago on Tatooine. I was frozen for 43 years." Argon blinks and drinks, "That.. is certainly a long time. Hopefully you did not take too much damage from the defrosting process. I could not imagine being in your shoes. If I can help you, please let me know." Chana tosses her second drink back. "Yeah, well. It's a subtle kind of damage, I guess. Nothing you'd see. No interesting scars... nothing like that. Just..." She taps her head meaningfully. Of course, it's a meaning that invites misinterpretation, which is what she intends. But it's not a //lie// is it? "Thanks for the offer. Got a com code? Chana gets out her comlink to enter it in. Argon nods, "I see." He then rattles off his personal one, "If you need it, let me know. At the very least, you should qualify for veteran benefits from the New Republic, though I am not sure. Worst thing would be that they say no." Chana cocks her head. "Why would they owe me anything?" "Because if we are going to be the extension of the Old Republic, we should uphold what promises it made to those who served it," Argon says, "If you flew for the Old Republic, the New should honor it." You say, "That... could be pretty tenuous to establish, I think. I flew for a...semi independent organization that fought for the Republic. Most of the Republic's forces were clones." "Say what you want about bureaucracy, but I am sure your records are in there, somewhere. I will take a gander once I am back on base," Argon nods, trying to be helpful, "Worst thing is that they don't exist." Chana nods. "It's possible, I guess." To be honest, Chana sincerely hopes they have no record of her existence. Because if they have the records, so does the Empire. She sets her glass down. "So you wanna show me your ship?" Yeah, change of subject. "That, I cannot do," Argon says with a shake of his head, "It is on base and I can not bring civilians aboard without permission from command. Gotta protect our secrets and avoid sabotage, not that I distrust you, but I will protect the Lightbringer as much as I can, also am a bit of a stickler for rules." Chana nods. "That's fine. I thought it might be landed in the public dock or something. But yeah, no civilians in the military hangar. I get it." She stretches, flexing muscles until they pop out, lifting and stretching this and that. "I should probably get my R2 unit to fly me back to the ship anyway. Before the boss gets the idea I took off again or something. Argon rises and pays his tab, "Indeed, I had best return home. But it was good speaking with you Chana. Hopefully the next time we speak things will have improved on all fronts!" Chana looks at Argon again. "Good talking with you. Sorry for sulking so much. The danger of strong attachments, I guess." She probably wouldn't have let that slip if she were more sober. She looks at Argon more somberly. "May the Force be with you." A new phrase from a new age, and said by people who don't really get it. But she's trying to blend in, right? Argon stands and nods, "May the Force be with you." He gives a polite smile, "And it's fine, it really is. Hopefully your day gets better!" Chana looks skyward. "That'll depend on the boss coming back. And what she does. But thanks." She gives Argon a smile, and anyone can tell it's heartfelt. She pays her tab, tips well, and wobbles a little on her way to the door.